Urban Farming Forges Onward

Urban farms are popping up all over. City Farmer News is one blog that’s tracking this trend, with revelations about inner-city farms producing edibles on rooftops and traffic islands and in backyards, former empty lots and other such spaces that would otherwise have gone to waste. For example:

“The New Roots Community Farm, developed by refugee aid group the International Rescue Committee, celebrates its official opening day on Thursday, September 10, 2009. What once was a vacant lot in a barren neighborhood in the City Heights section of San Diego has been transformed into a thriving community farm that promotes sustainable agriculture.

“The eighty families who till the land are from all over the world: Cambodia, Somalia, Burma, Laos, Uganda, Congo, Vietnam, Mexico and Guatemala. Here, the farmers cultivate not just corn, tomatoes and eggplant, but also a deeper understanding of their neighbors’ cultures. Down amongst the rows of vegetables, you can hear exchanges about the merits of Machicha and Kunde and how they compare with lettuce, beans and cabbage….”